If we are to characterize the composer and pianist Myriam Marbé in one word, that would be innovation, considering the unique environment in which she grew up, coming to be considered one of the most valuable international composers of contemporary music. The consistent cultural impulse that surrounded her came from her mother, Angela Marbé, a remarkable pianist and also an exceptional piano teacher, but also from her father, the scientist Max Marbé, a research doctor at the Cantacuzino National Research Institute. On the other hand, the fact that the Marbé family home was located in an annex in the park of this Institute where renowned research in the fields of science and innovation in the field of public health, constituted a cradle of cultural training for the adoption of a scientific attitude towards art.

Starting her career as a pianist, she later taught composition and counterpoint at the composition class at the National University of Music in Bucharest, and as a musicologist, she published numerous articles in specialized publications. The musician has obtained numerous awards over time, including the Second Prize (1966) and the First Prize (1976) in the International Composition Competition of the GEDOK-Mannheim Association, along with the U.C.M.R. Prize. (in the years 1971, 1974, 1980, 1982), the “Bernier” Prize of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1972) and the Romanian Academy prize (1977).

From an international perspective, Myriam Marbé is described as being among the elite of the Romanian avant-garde of the 20th century, the composer definitely leaving her mark on the musical life of the 60s-80s. Her creation is described as being able to be framed in the lyrical-contemplative trend of Romanian creation, with certain metamusical meanings integrated in his creation, having as distinctive elements the reflective tones brought to attention through a meditative sound plan through the preponderance of themes of great gravity, such as life or death.

An essential aspect that supports the thematic context is related to her political orientations that left their mark on her artistic destiny, the fact that Myriam Marbé belongs to the category of composers who refused to join the Communist Party. Thus, her exposure in the musical landscape (especially Romanian) was obviously limited, despite the fact that she was among the most important composers of his time. But fortunately, between 1968 and 1972, the composer was allowed to attend summer courses in Darmstadt, an emblematic place for the avant-garde of European music in the second half of the last century. A peak moment in the musical activity of the composer Myriam Marbé was occasioned by the granting to her in 1988 of a creative grant from the city of Mannheim.

However, returning to the period of her studies, Myriam Marbé initially oscillated between music and medicine in the first years, given both the family context and the pressure exerted by the moral duty towards her father to ensure continuity of his research. In the end, she turned her attention exclusively to her great passion, composition, for which she had as a guide and support in the realization of the first works Florica Musicescu, for whom she had a special respect and appreciation.

For the training of the artist Myriam Marbé, an important role was played by the enrollment at the Bucharest Conservatory from the time of her high school studies (1944-1945, after the Second World War), being noticed shortly after and guided by the director of the institution, Mihail Jora, also a personality of Romanian music that did not conform to the rigid patterns of the ideology of the communist regime.

Among other renowned names of the composition pedagogy landscape that have left their mark on her are that of Leon Klepper and then of Mihail Andricu, the latter being recognized for the decisive role he played in shaping an entire generation of composers , defined today as the “golden generation”, Myriam Marbé being part of this select group.

But that mentor whom the artist considered to have had a direct influence on her compositional profile is maestro George Breazul, the one with whom she first had contact when the artist was only 14 years old, during the entrance exam. Subsequently, a major impact on her artistic destiny came from personalities such as Tudor Ciortea and Theodor Rogalski, the latter leaving a defining mark on the student Myriam Marbé both as a teacher of orchestration and through his original and colorful musical vision .

Regarding the pedagogical activity, between the years 1954 and 1988, the artist carried out her musical activity by holding composition courses in the same institution where she studied, becoming, in turn, a true trainer of talents. In this field, however, it is remarkable that Myriam Marbé was not only involved in the musical training of her students, but was involved in stimulating their complete artistic education, by encouraging them to visit museums, go through art albums and read reference titles from Romanian and universal literature.